Remember a Year in the Life of Friends
by TheGirlWithKaleidoscopeEyes
Summary: A year in the life of the next generation. Written for the Calender Challenge on HPFC. Rated T just in case.
1. January

**Remember a Year in the Life of Friends**

**January**

I'm writing this for the Callander Challenge, so each chapter will be representative of a different month. They will be chronological and connected but not a formal story. This is probably going to be Scorpius-centric with a lot of Lily thrown in. It'll be mainly friendship with a healthy dose of romance. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Harry Potter. The title of this story is a lyric from the song Seasons of Love from RENT.

XxXx

It wasn't that Scorpius Malfoy was an unpopular boy - quite the contrary, he had many friends. Since starting Hogwarts, he had managed to become very close with the least likely group of his peers. Nobody had ever expected the Potter/Weasley clan and the only Malfoy heir to become fast friends and for a very long time after that first train ride - and right up to this very cold January day in Scorpius' sixth year - the relationship was always a great source of scandal and gossip in the corridors. Of course, at Hogwarts, what isn't?

The reason that Scorpius Malfoy was sitting by himself on the Hogwarts Express (for the first time ever) was not that he wasn't wanted elsewhere. He had exiled himself to an empty compartment at the back of the train. He didn't feel like he deserved to sit with his friends today.

For Scorpius, the Christmas holidays had not been at all happy or cheerful. His grandfather had come to stay with them. Scorpius loathed his grandfather.

Ever since he was eleven years old and he had written home telling his father who he had made friends with, Lucius Malfoy had looked down on him. In his eyes, the Potters were the epitome of terrible people and the Weasleys were blood traitors (not much better). He had never met Albus Potter or Rose Weasley or Frankie Longbottom (an honourary Potter/Weasley), but he was determined to see them as less than himself. This, above all else (his pure-blood mania, his obsession with the dark arts), was what Scorpius hated the most about his grandfather.

Lucius Malfoy had never before missed an opportunity to remind Scorpius of the old grudges, but this time, he had been especially ruthless. For the first time ever, Lucius hadn't told his grandson why he should hate the Potter/Weasleys, but why they should hate him. And, he hated to admit, Scorpius couldn't argue with the logic he heard in his grandfather's words.

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were the saviors of the wizarding world. Albus and Rose were their kids.

The Death Eaters were the scourge of the wizarding world. Scorpius was the son of a Death Eater.

And not just any Death Eater; his father was Draco Malfoy. Scorpius' father and Al's had been bitter rivals all through school, even before the Second Wizarding War started or Draco donned the Dark Mark.

Scorpius hated the idea that he wasn't meant to have the friends he had. After all, if he couldn't be friends with Al, Rose, Frankie and all their siblings and cousins, who could he be friends with? His was one of the few families to escape incarceration after the Battle of Hogwarts where many good people had lost loved ones. There were very few who were willing to give Scorpius the time of day.

He knew he shouldn't listen to what his grandfather said. He'd always known Lucius was not one to be trusted or heeded, but he couldn't help but let his words get to him this time. This was not the first time that Scorpius felt self-conscious about his friendship. Lucius Malfoy was not the first to question the legitimacy of the relationship. This was the first time it had ever stuck, though. Most people seemed to think that Scorpius would do something to betray his friends or that he would deem himself better than they. Now he was afraid his friends would see him for what he truly was: Death Eater spawn.

"There you are!" a voice said as the compartment door slid open. "What are you doing hiding back here? We've been looking everywhere for you."

Scorpius looked up into the clear blue eyes of Lily Potter.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why do you think?" Lily replied. "When you didn't turn up in our compartment we thought you'd missed the train or something. You've never not ridden with Al, Rose or Frankie."

"Yeah, I know," he answered, looking down at his lap.

"What's wrong?" Lily suddenly questioned. He silently cursed her attentiveness; she could read him like a book.

"Nothing," he said, still not meeting her eyes.

"Liar," she shot back, closing the compartment door and plopping herself into the seat next to him. "Tell me."

"You giving me orders now, Potter?" he joked, glancing at her.

"Damn straight, Malfoy," she said forcefully. "Now stop changing the subject and tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing, Lily, really," he told her.

She scrutinized him for a moment. "It's either something really bad or really stupid," she decided. "The only reasons you wouldn't tell me something is if you're afraid I'll get angry or if you're embarrassed. So which is it?"

He sighed but he knew she would beat it out of him anyway. He always gave in to Lily. "You might think it's stupid," he admitted. "But you might not. It might open your eyes and you'll hate me forever."

"Doubtful," she replied dismissively. "Just tell me. You look really lonely sitting here by yourself."

"I'm used to being lonely," he said. "It's the only thing I can rely on these days."

"You're starting to worry me, Scorpius." Her voice was suddenly soft, all trace of humour gone.

He looked into her eyes and saw the concern there. "It's just something my grandfather said," he told her.

She sighed and realization donned in her eyes. "This is a whole 'our families hate each other' thing, isn't it?" she asked.

"How did you ... ?" he trailed off, though he had to admit that her tone relieved him.

"Scorpius, come on," she said. "How many people think we shouldn't be friends? How many times have you had this conversation with some member of my family?"

"My father was a Death Eater, Lily," he told her sternly.

"So what? I'm certainly not my father, why should you be your's?" She rolled her eyes.

"I don't know ... I just ..." He sighed. "I can't understand why your lot would want to be friends with someone like me."

"Do not give me all that 'I am not worthy' tripe," Lily said, suddenly angry. "I get enough of that from my dormates and classmates and people on the street, I do not need it from you."

"Sorry," he said, looking at his lap. He heard Lily sigh and when she continued her voice was softer.

"Don't you get that that's why we like having you around?" she asked. "You never got all star-struck or nervous or anything else that other people do. Most people don't see it because we have such a big family, but us Potter-Weasleys don't have many friends. We've got Andrea, Laura and Frankie Longbottom, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, and you, Scorpius. That's it."

Scorpius considered this and realized it was true. He had always thought of the Longbottoms and Scamanders as honourary Weasleys; the way Lily was putting it, he fell into that category, too.

"I'd never really thought of it that way before," he admitted.

"Yeah, well, being famous sucks," she told him and smiled. "Come on, let's go back to our compartment before Al and James think I've fallen into the same black hole that's claimed you."


	2. February

**Remember a Year in the Life of Friends**

**February**

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Harry Potter.

XxXx

When Scorpius Malfoy entered the library, he had expected to find it empty. It was past curfew on a Tuesday night. The only reason he had managed to get in was because of his Prefect status. He was quite surprised, therefore, to find Lily Potter sitting at a table in the far corner, her nose buried in a book.

He crept up behind her, intending to scare her, when suddenly she slammed her book shut.

"Bloody hell," she said aloud. "Come on, Lily, concentrate."

She leaned her head on one hand and picked up her quill. She didn't write anything for a moment and her quill started moving; apparently she was doodling absentmindedly. Scorpius managed to get close enough to look down at the parchment.

'The Goblin Rebellions of Eighteen Thirty-Two' it had scrawled across the top. Scorpius' eyes were drawn downwards, however, to where her hand was continuously tracing the same shape. It was a heart. What was more, there were initials inside the heart, SM. Scorpius felt his stomach lurch as he realized those were his initials.

He quickly racked his brains, trying to think of someone else she might know with those initials. After all, it couldn't possibly be him. He didn't think there were any Gryffindors in her year with those initials. Maybe it was another house? Or another year?

"Merlin, what's wrong with me?" she suddenly said, seeming to snap out of her daze. "Give it up Lily, he's a sixth year."

Scorpius' stomach dropped as he heard those words and watched her scribble over the heart. He was a sixth year. He thought of his classmates. His mind wandered all the way back to his sorting. There were four kids in his year with a last name that started with 'M': Scorpius Malfoy, Alexandria Mason, Antoinette McAllistor, and Hayley Michaels. Three girls and one boy. And he was the only one that started with 'S', anyway. This simply couldn't be.

"You're breaking curfew, Potter," he said, throwing himself into the seat next to her.

She jumped. "Ohmigawd, Scorpius! You scared me."

"That was the point," he replied with a grin. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, covering the scribbled out heart with her arm. "I just have this essay due for Professor Binns tomorrow."

"What on?" Scorpius wasn't quite sure why he was making small talk or why he kept asking questions he already knew the answers to. He just knew that he wanted her to keep talking.

"The Goblin Rebellions of Eighteen Thirty-Two," she recited.

"Sounds exciting," he said.

"It's not," she replied dully. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Prefect, remember?" He indicated his badge. "Just doing my duties. Which right now might involve taking some points from Gryffindor, Miss Potter."

"You wouldn't," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"You're right, I won't," he told her. "I don't want us to lose points. I'm not letting Slytherin beat us for the House Cup."

She sighed. "Good."

"How'd you get down here anyway?" he asked absently.

"I have my ways," she replied slyly.

"You stole the Cloak from James, didn't you?" he guessed.

She rolled her eyes. "How else?"

"You know, you guys will be in a lot of trouble if you ever get caught with that thing," he said.

"Hypocrite!" she accused. "Like you've never snuck off under it with Al to meet Frankie someplace."

"True," he allowed. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're going to be in heaps of trouble if you get caught."

"Yeah, ok, Gran," she said. Scorpius laughed. It was one of the things he loved about his friends. They were rule-breakers but they weren't bad. He assumed they must have inherited it from their parents. He had heard all kinds of stories about how Mr and Mrs Potter and Mr and Mrs Weasley used to sneak around after hours. He had heard the story of the time they had broken into the Ministry with his Herbology professor and Lorcan and Lysander's mother.

"What time is it anyways?" Lily suddenly asked. When she leaned over to get a look at the clock on the far wall, Scorpius got a clear view once again of the scribbled out heart, his initials still visible under the ink. "Bloody hell, it can't be almost midnight al-"

Scorpius looked up into her shocked eyes. Apparently he'd been staring at the heart. She quickly snatched the parchment back from him.

"That's nothing," she said.

"So, who is he?" Scorpius asked. He needed to know. It simply couldn't be him. He had to have heard her wrong.

"Who's who?" she replied, alarmed.

"'SM'?" he asked.

"Uh ... er ... no one," she said. "Forget it."

"Come on, Lily," he persisted. "You can tell me."

"No, I really can't." She began clearing up her things and shoving them into her bag.

"What's wrong?" he questioned. "I won't take the mickey out of you for it, I swear."

She looked up into his eyes and they just stared at each other for a long while. He did his best to make himself look sincere. It wasn't easy trying to hide his quickly beating heart or the fear and excitement that was running through his veins. She wouldn't say it was him because it couldn't be him. It was ridiculous to think it could be. The thought of her saying any other name, though, made it hard to breathe.

Suddenly she looked away from him, down at her hands, and mumbled something incoherent. He watched as her face turned as red as her hair.

"What was that?" he asked. "I didn't quite hear you."

She took a deep breath and seemed to get angry. "It's you, okay?" she said stiffly, still not meeting his eyes. "But look, I know it's stupid, okay? It's just a silly little crush. I'll get over it-"

"Lily," he interrupted, but she didn't seem to hear him.

"It's nothing to get worried about or even think about too much. Just please don't get all weird on me 'cause I don't think I could handle that and-"

"Lily," he said, louder this time. She stopped talking and looked up at him. "Just shut up for a second, okay?"

Then, without thinking about what he was doing, he leaned forward and kissed her. It didn't last long, but it was utter bliss. He pulled away from her when the clock chimed midnight.

"Okay," she said dreamily, her eyes still closed. He laughed at her. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "I can safely say I wasn't expecting that."

He chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah," he said. "Neither was I, really."

"You know, Al's probably going to hit you when he finds out," she told him.

He furrowed his brow. He hadn't considered that. All he'd wanted to do was kiss Lily; he hadn't thought about what would happen afterwards. He wanted to be with her, he had for awhile, but he'd only ever fantasized about it. Never had he actually thought about what would happen if his fantasies became reality.

He couldn't lose Al as a friend. He just couldn't. If he lost Al, he would lose everyone else and he knew it. It wasn't that they kept him around just for Albus' sake, it was that if it came down to choosing between the two of them, he knew they would choose Al. Albus was family. Scorpius was a friend.

He looked into Lily's eyes and hesitated. "Maybe this isn't the best idea," he said and hated himself for it when her face fell. "I mean, we've both got schoolwork, and quidditch practice, and I've got my Prefect duties. We just won't have that much time to be together and-" He stopped talking when she laughed. "What's so funny?"

"I don't want to be your whole life, Scorpius," she replied then smirked. "Just your favourite part."

He wasn't sure what to say at first, but looking into her eyes he knew he couldn't say no.

"You already are," he told her.

XxXx

Okay, so I didn't mention this in the first chapter or installment or whatever you want to call it, but I live in Canada and so will be using Canadian spellings, just incase anyone was wondering or thinking I couldn't spell.

Anyways, thanks for reading and thank you for the reviews I got.


	3. March

**Remember a Year in the Life of Friends**

**March**

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Harry Potter.

XxXx

Scorpius Malfoy lay next to the Black Lake, Albus Potter beside him. Both boys were well aware that they should be spending their free period in the common room or library doing homework or studying, but it was the first nice day of Spring and they couldn't resist being outside. Besides, they would have plenty of time for schoolwork later.

Scorpius found his eyes wandering towards the greenhouses. The Gryffindor fourth years had Herbology now, he knew.

Scorpius and Lily had decided not to tell their friends about their relationship just yet. They weren't even sure yet if it would work out, and there was really no point in bringing everyone into it and making a big thing about it if it wasn't going to last. That's the way they had reasoned it to themselves, anyway.

In reality, Scorpius knew that they were both worried about what the repercussions would be when her family found out she was dating him. Not only was he two years older than her, and not only was he her brother's best friend, but he was also a Malfoy. They both knew that, despite their parents' reassurances, some of the old grudges still held true.

"I didn't say it was your fault, Rose." Both boys sat up when they heard the voice of Frankie Longbottom and the sound of approaching footsteps.

"No, you just implied it," Rose Weasley replied as she threw herself into the grass next to Scorpius.

"Are you two fighting again?" Al asked as Frankie situated himself next to him.

"Shut up," both replied at the same time.

Scorpius and Al shot each other bemused looks. Rose and Frankie had been dating on-again-off-again for the last two years. Half the time they seemed absolutely crazy about each other. In all truth, most people hadn't been surprised when he'd asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him in their fourth year. The problem was that they always seemed to find something to fight about.

After two years of such behaviour, most people would think that they should just give up on each other. It wasn't that Frankie and Rose hadn't tried this route, it was that they just couldn't pull it off. Scorpius found it incredible that even when they were fighting he could see how right they were for each other.

Both were incredibly stubborn (which, granted, did often contribute to their problems), both shared the same cynical sense of humour, both were top of their year and there was little doubt in anyone's mind that they would be crowned Head Boy and Girl next year. Frankie tended to be quieter and able to fade into the background while Rose was loud and often animated. They contrasted in such a way that they complimented each other.

"What about this time?" Scorpius asked. He knew that the answer to this question would involve quite a bit more arguing and both would be trying to get the other two on their side, but he also knew it would be better to hear it now when they were both together than to have to go through two different versions of the story later.

"Well it's obvious, isn't it?" Rose said first. "You were there, you saw what happened in potions."

Of course, Scorpius thought, they were fighting about something that had happened in a lesson. Incidentally, Scorpius had been in potions and he had seen what had happened. Potions was their third lesson of the day and the only one the three Gryffindors shared with Frankie, a Ravenclaw. Scorpius wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but it had resulted in an explosion. The two had been asked to stay after class to clean up their mess.

"Yeah," Al replied. "So?"

"So?! So Frankie here is blaming it on me!" Rose cried indignantly.

"I am not," Frankie cut in. "I simply said that it looked like the toad spawn had been added too soon and that I hadn't touched it."

"Exactly," Rose snapped. "If it wasn't you then who else could it have been, Frankie?"

"Well, I don't know, _Rose_," he shot back. "I suppose it could have been anybody."

"Anybody, of course," she scoffed. "Because it wasn't like we were the only two people putting ingredients into our cauldron. And I'm sure our entire class is trying to sabotage us, anyway."

"Alright, wait a second," Al interjected. "Are you completely positive that it was the toad spawn that caused the explosion?"

"Well, no," Frankie said. "That's why Rose is blowing this whole thing out of - "

"And what else could possibly cause a potion to explode?" Al cut him off.

"Well, we were making Pepper Up Potion," Scorpius, their resident potions expert, began. "So if you didn't let it simmer long enough before adding the Essence of Murtlap, that could have caused it, too."

"And I believe you were in charge of that." Rose shot Frankie an accusatory look.

"Oh, so now you're blaming me?" he questioned.

"Okay, that's enough," Al said. "The way I see it, either of you could be to blame, but we're probably never going to find out who it was that buggered up. So the two of you can either grow up or take your pointless bickering elsewhere. You are ruining our free period."

With that he lay back down in the grass and closed his eyes. Scorpius looked back and forth between his two friends. Both were staring into their own laps, apparently thinking it over. Eventually, Frankie sighed and stood up, walking around them to take a seat on Rose's other side.

"Sorry," Scorpius heard him mumble.

"Yeah, me too," Rose replied.

Scorpius chuckled to himself and lay back down in the grass next to Albus to enjoy the rest of his free period.


	4. April

**Remember a Year in the Life of Friends**

**April**

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Harry Potter.

Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, I was in New York for four days and when I got back I was totally overloaded with schoolwork and rugby and band that I just couldn't seem to find the time.

XxXx

Easter was always a fun occasion at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It wasn't as prominent as Christmas, but the school still got decorated and students were given a break from schoolwork.

This year, Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures professor, had somehow managed to round up a litter of live rabbits for the occasion. Apparently, Headmaster Sinistra had been very keen on the idea of having them hop around the Great Hall during the feast on Easter Sunday.

It was supposed to be a surprise, but when Scorpius, Al, Rose, Frankie and Lily had gone down to Hagrid's hut for tea on Saturday, they had found him in a tizzy and looking madder then usual. After a quick explanation of the predicament, it became clear that the rabbits had somehow gotten loose. The kids had agreed to help round them up.

"Tha's mighty kind o' yer," Hagrid panted. "The cage is ou' back. I jus' hope none o' them got inter the fores'."

"It's not a problem, Hagrid, really," Rose replied, looking amused and slightly relieved - rabbits were a lot less harmful than some of the creatures they were exposed to in Hagrid's lessons, which they felt obligated to take.

Hagrid lead the way out the door and Scorpius had been about to follow when he heard a soft voice behind him speak.

"Come here, you," it said.

He turned to find Lily on her tip-toes, reaching up towards one of the shelves where a tiny, white rabbit sat. Scorpius leaned against the doorframe and watched, amused, as she made kissing noises and extended a hand upward, just coming short of where the poor animal sat.

"Come on down," she cooed. "It's okay."

"Having trouble?" he asked and chuckled when she started.

She turned to look at him and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm short. Tell me something I don't know."

He laughed. "Do you want some help?"

"If you wouldn't mind," she replied.

He walked towards her, pulling out his wand as he did so. When he raised his arm, the levitating charm on the tip of his tongue, her hand shot out and batted his away.

"What was that for?" he asked.

Lily sighed. "If just levitating it down was an option, I'd have done it myself," she told him. "But you'll terrify the poor thing."

"And we wouldn't want to do that, now would we?" He smiled down at her.

She smirked back up at him. "No, we wouldn't."

He sighed and reached an arm up, reaching the shelf much more easily than Lily. The rabbit made a valiant attempt to scurry away from him, but he caught it and lifted it down. He brought it into his chest, feeling its little body shaking with fright.

"Oh, look at the poor baby," Lily said, leaning in close to it and nuzzling it. "It's okay, little guy. We're not going to hurt you."

Scorpius watched as she kissed the top of its head and smiled.

"Hey, I'm starting to feel a little left out up here," he said.

Lily looked up at him. "Is that so?"

"It is." He smirked down at her.

She straightened herself up and stood on her tip-toes, gently pressing her lips against his. It only lasted a few seconds when -

"Ahem," came a voice from the doorway.

Scorpius and Lily jumped away from each other and looked to see who had caught them. Frankie stood in the doorway, watching them carefully. Scorpius racked his brain trying to think of what he could say to make this better. He chanced a glance at Lily, who appeared to be doing to same thing.

Eventually, though, it was Frankie who spoke. "I see you found the last one," he said.

"What," Scorpius asked, taken off guard.

Frankie pointed at the little rabbit, still clutched in his arms. "We found all the others."

"Oh, yeah," Scorpius replied dumbly.

"Here, I'll take it outside," Frankie offered, reaching for the animal. Scorpius handed it over and Frankie left the cabin.

"Oh no," Lily groaned, sinking into one of Hagrid's oversized chairs. "This isn't good."

"It's not that bad," Scorpius tried to assure her. "It's not as bad as it could be. At least Al didn't walk in on us."

"What does it matter?" she replied. "He's going to tell Al. We should have just come clean from the beginning. It's going to be so much worse coming from someone else."

"No," Scorpius said. "If Frankie had told him, Al would be in here hexing me right now."

He looked out the window into Hagrid's garden where his friends stood. Frankie had his arm around Rose and Albus was laughing at something. He hadn't told him.

"So he hasn't told him yet," Lily said. She sat back in the chair and looked up at him.

"I'll talk to him," he assured her. "I'll make sure he doesn't say anything."

"We're going to have to come clean soon, Scor," she told him.

He nodded his head. It had been nearly three months, he knew it would have to happen soon.

"We will," he said, though the idea terrified him.

XxXx

Thankfully, they made it through the rest of tea without Frankie saying anything or Scorpius or Lily getting too nervous and giving themselves away. The sun was setting over the lake as they made their way back up to the castle. They climbed the marble staircase in silence and pointedly looked away when Frankie kissed Rose where they would have to part ways. They made it halfway down the corridor when Scorpius spoke up.

"Bloody hell, I forgot, I needed to ask Frankie about our Arithmancy homework," he said, choosing the one subject he shared with Frankie and not Al or Rose. "I'll meet you in the Common Room."

"Okay, hurry up though, you still have to help me with that Potions essay," Al said.

"Yeah, I won't be long," he replied and started down the corridor at a jog, hoping he could catch Frankie before he made it to Ravenclaw Tower.

He didn't have to go far, it turns out, because when he rounded a corner, it was to find Frankie leaning against the wall, waiting for him. Scorpius would have laughed at how well his friend obviously knew him if he wasn't so relieved.

"Hey, um, about what happened at Hagrid's earlier," he began, Frankie waited silently for him to continue. "You won't tell Al, will you?"

"What would I say? I don't even know what's going on," Frankie replied. Scorpius sighed and felt guilty for hiding something this important from his best friends. "What is going on, Scor? Are you seeing her?"

"Yeah," he answered. "But don't tell Al, please. It should come from me. It'll be worse if it's not."

"Worse?" Frankie asked. "How do you even know he'll take it badly?"

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "She's his sister. He's going to kill me," he replied.

Frankie just shrugged. "I think you're underestimating him," he said. "Albus trusts you a lot. You're his best friend. He knows you. Who else could he want to date his sister?"

When Scorpius didn't answer, Frankie pushed himself off the wall and started walking away from him.

"I won't tell him," he called over his shoulder. "But you had better. Soon."

Scorpius nodded his head, knowing he was right, but his words had made it worse. He knew Al trusted him, but hearing it said aloud was going to make it even harder to betray that trust.


	5. May

**Remember a Year in the Life of Friends**

**May**

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Harry Potter.

XxXx

Scorpius Malfoy couldn't recall a time in his life when he'd been happier. For a moment nothing mattered. He didn't care that he had homework to do. He didn't care that he's been sneaking around and lying to his friends for months. He didn't care that when his secret came out his family would probably disown him.

In that moment, all that existed was Lily. Lily's lips on his. Lily's hands in his hair. Lily's bare skin under his fingertips.

The Come and Go Room, something Teddy Lupin had discovered in his third year, had come in quite handy in the last few months. Whenever the two wanted to go someplace where no one could find them, they sought out the magical entrance on the seventh floor.

They were laying on one of the couches that the room provided as part of what had come to be known as the Weasley common room, as most of the students who frequented it were part of that family. With so many of the cousins in different houses, they'd needed someplace where they could go to hang around with each other and not be under the watchful eyes of a teacher.

Scorpius trailed a line of kisses down her neck and she giggled. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and smiled down at her.

"You're laughing at me," he stated.

She grinned back up at him. "Of course I'm not."

"Liar," he replied, moving to lay down next to her.

She gasped. "How dare you say such a thing about me," she said indignantly.

He simply raised his eyebrows and waited for her reserve to crumble. Which it did and she began laughing. She lay her head back on the couch and stared at the ceiling.

"So, have you begun packing yet?" she asked.

"Well, no," he told her.

"Scorpius, we leave tomorrow morning," she said, shaking her head.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, the first weekend in May have become a Wizarding holiday. The anniversary of the battle saw an elaborate memorial service at the school, which he knew Lily and his other friends attended every year and which he'd never been to. Students were sent home for a long weekend to be with their families, many of which had lost loved ones to the war.

"Yeah, I know," he replied. In all truth, he didn't want to leave the school. He and Lily hadn't spent a day apart since they'd begun meeting secretly, and he wasn't too keen on starting now.

Lily sighed. "I've been thinking," she said suddenly.

"What about?" Scorpius asked.

"About this weekend. About going home. About seeing my family," she told him.

"And ... ?" he prompted, knowing there was more.

"And I think we should tell them," she finished.

Scorpius felt his eyes widen slightly, but quickly composed himself before she noticed. "You mean, about us? You want to tell our families? All in one shot like that?"

"Yes," she said, her voice full of certainty. "It's been four months, Scorpius. I think it's time we came clean."

"You're sure?" he asked. "You're sure you're ready for everyone to know? You're sure you're ready for whatever reaction we'll get?"

She seemed to think about it for a moment before turning her head and looking him in the head. "Yes, I am," she answered, and she sounded so sure of herself that he couldn't argue. "I don't want to have to sneak around anymore. I don't want to have to be afraid Al or James or anyone is going to walk in on us. I don't want to have to keep getting those glances from Frankie and worry that he's going to get fed up and say something."

"He wouldn't," Scorpius replied. _Not if he know's what's good for him_.

"It's not just that, though," she continued. "I want to be able to be with you in public. I want to be able to sit with you at dinner or hold your hand in the Common Room."

Scorpius had to admit, those things did seem very enjoyable.

"Okay," he agreed. "When we go home this weekend, we'll tell our families."

"Good," she said, smiling at him.

"You sure you want to do it all at once like that?" he questioned. "I mean, do you think we should tell our friends here first, and then break the news to our parents?"

"No," she said quickly. "I think it would be better if Al and James didn't find out while you're still within hexing range."

He laughed. "That's probably a clever idea."

Lily sighed and stared back up at the ceiling again. "They're all going to flip out, aren't they?" she asked and he nodded. She laughed softly. "And so begins my life as a nun."

Scorpius leaned down and kissed her again. If she was going to be a nun after this weekend, he was going to get his fill of her while he could.

XxXx

Okay, so, I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I last updated, and I could give you a whole slew of excuses, but they are just that: excuses. So I'm just going to say I'm sorry it's been so long, I'll try to update more regularly in the future.

Plus, I plan on completely this challenge, and one of the criterium is to finish before January 2010, so it will be completed within the year! If that helps.

Thanks for reading.


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